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Overview:
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- The Apache Flex SDK Installer AIR application provides an easy installation of the
Apache Flex SDK and all its dependencies. This will make it suitable for working with
IDEs such as Adobe Flash Builder, FDT, IntelliJ IDEA, FlashDevelop, etc.
When installing an Apache Flex SDK, the application downloads the following
dependencies:
- The AIR sdk (Windows vs. Mac) based on the current platform
- Adobe Flash Player playerglobal.swc
- SWFObject
- Open Source Media Framework (OSMF)
Optionally, the application will download these files if the user explicitly agrees to
the licensing terms:
- Adobe embedded font support
Other release packages may download different dependencies.
- The Apache Flex SDK Installer 3.0 and later supports the ability to install
virtually anything that can be installed via an Apache Ant script. The list
of choices to install are described in
installer/src/installer/sdk-installer-config-4.0.xml and posted to
http://flex.apache.org/installer/sdk-installer-config-4.0.xml. By default, the
installer looks there to determine the list of choices. Once a selection is made,
the installer then looks in the folder of the install package for a -config.xml file
and if found, uses that to determine the set of licensing options that need to be
accepted before installing. The installer then uncompresses the install package and
looks for installer.xml and runs that script via an approximation of Apache Ant that
has been written in ActionScript. If the -config.xml file is not found, the Installer
assumes it is installing an older version of the Apache Flex SDK.
- When installing an older version of the Apache Flex SDK, the installer
determines the file names and urls of the downloaded files from
installer/src/installer/sdk-installer-config-4.0.xml. When the dependencies file
names or urls change in future, update the sdk-installer-config-4.0.xml to ensure
that the application works correctly. For newer installs driven by Apache Ant
scripts, the file names and urls are determined by the script itself.
- The application uses http://flex.apache.org/single-mirror-url.cgi to determine
the preferred mirror url to use to download the binary package. Newer installs
that use Apache Ant scripts use their own logic to select dependencies from mirrors.
- Once the binary package is downloaded, a MD5 hash is generated for it.
This hash is compared with the hash from the Apache Flex SDK release site.
If they match, we verify that the downloaded binary package is a valid Apache release and
proceed to unzip the file.
- If required, the Adobe AIR SDK will be downloaded and the relevant files are copied
to the required locations.
- If required, the Adobe Flash Player playerglobal.swc file and the config files
are placed in the required locations.
- Then the rest of the external dependencies and the optional files (if selected by user)
are downloaded and copied into the appropriate locations.
- If you experience problems with the install, please try again, but right-click
and select "Verbose Logging" to add more information to the log.
- From the 2.6 version, you can select the version of Adobe Flash Player and Adobe AIR SDK
the installer downloads.
- From the 2.5 version, by default, Apache Flex SDK Installer 2.5 downloads Adobe Flash
Player 11.1 and Adobe AIR SDK 3.4.
If you want to change it to any other supported combination, you save a copy of the
config file found at: http://flex.apache.org/installer/sdk-installer-config-3.0.xml,
modify the download urls to point to the required versions. Then run the app from
command line mode with the optional command line parameter: -config=
- If building the app for Linux, open InstallApacheFlex-app.xml and change the Adobe AIR
namespace from http://ns.adobe.com/air/application/4.0 to
http://ns.adobe.com/air/application/2.6 This is because AIR 2.6 is the latest available
version on Linux.
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How to build the installer using ANT (no Flash Builder or any other IDE required):
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0. Make sure you have the right version of the Adobe AIR SDK. Apache Flex Installer
3.1 uses Adobe AIR SDK 4.0. If you want to use an older version of the AIR SDK,
you will have to change the namespace in the following files:
installer/src/InstallApacheFlex-app.xml
ant_on_air/tests/AntOnAIR-app.xml.
1. Unzip the source distribution. You should see the 'installer' directory and the
'common' and 'ant_on_air' directories in the root.
2. In the ant_on_air directory, run:
ant [-DFLEX_HOME=/path/to/apache/flex/sdk] [-DAIR_HOME=/path/to/air/sdk]
FLEX_HOME is the absolute path to the Apache Flex SDK
If you omit this argument, and the system environment variable, FLEX_HOME exists,
it is used. Otherwise, the FLEX_HOME_MAC or FLEX_HOME_WIN property in
installer/build.properties is used.
AIR_HOME is the absolute path to the Adobe AIR SDK
If you omit this argument, and the system environment variable, AIR_HOME exists,
it is used. Otherwise, the AIR_HOME_MAC or AIR_HOME_WIN property in
installer/build.properties is used.
3. In the root directory, run:
ant build [-DFLEX_HOME=/path/to/apache/flex/sdk] [-DAIR_HOME=/path/to/air/sdk]
4. The installer executable file created in the installer/release directory. If you are
on Windows, you will see an .exe file; if you are on Mac OS, you will see a .dmg file.
A temporary digital signing certificate - temp.p12 will be created in the installer
directory as well. The password for this file is available in the build.properties
file (var: TEMP_PASS_CHANGE_THIS)
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How to set up the project for working with Adobe Flash Builder 4.7:
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1. Unzip the source distribution. You should see the 'installer' directory and the
'common' and 'ant_on_air' directories in the root.
2. In the installer directory run:
ant get-as3commons.swc
ant get-as3httpdclient.swc
These step downloads the required libraries and saves it in the libs directory.
3. If using Adobe Flash Builder, add a linked resource called:
APACHE_FLEX_UTILITIES_ROOT
and point it to the directory path where the 'installer' and 'common' directories are
located.
4. In the installer project, add ${APACHE_FLEX_UTILITIES_ROOT}/common/src as a source path.
5. In the installer project, add ${APACHE_FLEX_UTILITIES_ROOT}/ant_on_air/src as a source path.
6. In the installer project, add ${APACHE_FLEX_UTILITIES_ROOT}/ant_on_air/external as a source path.
7. In the installer project, add ${APACHE_FLEX_UTILITIES_ROOT}/ant_on_air/locale/{locale} as a source path.
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How to set up the project for working with JetBrains IDEA 12+
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1. Setup a new project by either unzipping the downloaded source or grabbing the source from the version control.
2. During the project setup, DO NOT search for modules or frameworks. We will set these up later.
3. Setup a new module by going to the File -> New Module menu.
Module Type : Flash
Target Platform : Desktop
Output Type : Application
Create Sample App : Unchecked
Create HTML Wrapper : Unchecked
Create the new module, name it "installer" and chose the ${APACHE_FLEX_UTILITIES_ROOT}/installer directory
4. After the module is created, go into the installer module settings (Right-Click -> Open Module Settings)
5. Add the following Content Roots :
flex-utilities\ant_on_air
flex-utilities\common
6. Mark the following directories as Sources : (some may already be marked as src)
flex-utilities\ant_on_air\src
flex-utilities\ant_on_air\external
flex-utilities\common\src
flex-utilities\installer\src
7. Close the Settings dialog
8. Open the Ant Build tab within IDEA.
Add the flex-utilities\build.xml ANT build script.
9. Run the get-as3commons.swc and get-as3httpdclient.swc ant target. This will download the required SWC to build the installer.
10. Return to the module properties, and go to the dependencies tab. Make sure the following are listed :
Flex SDK
flex-utilities\installer\libs
flex-utilities\installer\common\bin\common.swc
flex-utilities\installer\ant_on_air\bin\ant_on_air.swc
flex-utilities\ant_on_air\external\libs\as3commons-zip-1.0.0-alpha.1.swc
11. Apply and close the dialog box.
12. Update the flex-utilities\installer\build.properties to match your settings. In theory you should only
have to update the FLEX_HOME_WIN or FLEX_HOME_MAC property to point to your SDK with AIR 4.0 overlaid.
You should now be able to build and debug the installer.